Chapter 504: Deep in the Inner Area
Chapter 504: Deep in the Inner Area
It was not that Xiao Chen wanted to demoralize them. If he had not been helping them from the sidelines, this team would have found even staying in the periphery hard.
Now, this team felt so confident that they wanted to go to the inner area. That was a place where only people like Bai Lixi could go.
Wu Quan remained silent, in no rush to answer. He looked at Xiao Chen and said, “Xiao Chen, what do you think? Can we go to the inner area?”
Xiao Chen sighed softly and said, “When I was scouting, I saw some Small Perfection half-step Martial Monarchs returning from the inner area in low spirits.”
Saying this much should be fine. As for the final decision, that was up to Wu Quan and Ping Xingteng. This was not something for Xiao Chen to worry about.
Xiao Chen’s purpose for joining this team was to observe the various Demons as the team fought them.
This was in preparation for his solo practice and cultivation. He would be leaving sooner or later.
Wu Quan pulled Ping Xingteng aside and started discussing in whispers. Clearly, Wu Quan was cautious about going to the inner area.
After fifteen minutes, the two finally finished their discussion. Wu Quan walked over to Xiao Chen and said, “We have decided. We will go over to the borders of the inner area. If we think we can’t handle it, it would not be too late to come back.
“I know that the inner area is dangerous. Xiao Chen, I will not push you into this. If you are not willing, we can send you back safely to the outpost islets first.”
When Xiao Chen heard this, he smiled bitterly to himself. Since Wu Quan already said this, what else could he do?
Ever since Xiao Chen came to this world, he had seen too many cases of mutual deception, too many betrayals. Few were like Wu Quan who had true loyalty and righteousness.
Xiao Chen had relied on these people to get the intel he wanted. By helping them out from the sidelines, he no longer owed them.
Their life or death had nothing to do with Xiao Chen; he could now ignore them and do nothing.
However, their current state of overconfidence was more or less connected to Xiao Chen; he could not just abandon them to die. He found this difficult to do, especially after Wu Quan treated him so well.
Xiao Chen took a deep breath and smiled. “Very well, I will come with you to the border of the inner area and continue scouting for you.”
Wu Quan revealed a smile and the others heaved a sigh of relief as well. In their opinion, although Xiao Chen was not strong, his skill at Movement Technique was excellent. They would not be used to not having him around.
Ping Xingteng laughed and said, “I knew that I did not misread you. Although your Saber Techniques and intelligence leave much to be desired, I really admire your temper from the bottom of my heart.
“In the future, when we have time, I will teach you some Saber Techniques. Your Elder Brother Ping will definitely do this!”
After Ping Xingteng finished speaking, he raised his arm out of habit, wanting to pat Xiao Chen’s shoulders. However, he suddenly remembered what happened before and pulled his arm back at the last moment.
Ping Xingteng smiled embarrassedly. “Let’s go. Like before, Xiao Chen, you will take the lead.”
Wu Quan exhorted, “Be careful. If there is something off, return immediately!”
Xiao Chen nodded to indicate he understood. Soon, he vanished from everyone’s expectant eyes with a few flashes.
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In a distant place in this scarlet Battlefield, there was a huge black whirlpool in the air.
Even from five thousand kilometers away, one could see a vague human silhouette formed by resentment; it seemed to be clawing about within the whirlpool.
An island below the whirlpool was the core of this third grade Battlefield.
The Bloody Bladesman Sun Guangquan sat there on that island, undergoing his final experiential training to break through to Martial Monarch.
Everywhere within ten kilometers of this island was the inner area of the third grade Battlefield. The nearer one got to the island, the more dangerous it would be.
However, all Wu Quan and the rest wanted to do was wander about the borders of the inner area. They had no intention of entering deep inside.
Xiao Chen spread out his Spiritual Sense and saw everything within three kilometers of himself. He easily avoided the Demons in the periphery and carefully headed for the border of the inner area.
After a while, Xiao Chen truly arrived at the border between the inner area and the periphery. The instant he crossed it, his Spiritual Sense picked up a strong aura.
“Peng! Peng! Peng!”
All sorts of explosive shouts resounded in his mind; these were from cultivators fighting intense battles. Xiao Chen hesitated for a moment before he scanned the place with his Spiritual Sense.
Scenes of battle entered Xiao Chen’s mind. He also managed to make a rough estimate of the strength of these cultivators.
After a while, Xiao Chen withdrew his Spiritual Sense. Then, he muttered, “It is as I expected. All the cultivators in the inner area are at least Small Perfection half-step Martial Monarchs. Otherwise, they move in teams of peak Superior Grade Martial Kings.”
Wu Quan’s team had only two peak Superior Grade Martial Kings. The rest were ordinary Superior Grade Martial Kings.
“This is impossible. Wu Quan would not be able to deal with the speed and defense of five high-ranked Winged Demons. Ten high-ranked Shadow Demons…he can’t handle those, either. Three high-ranked Ghost Race…that is even more impossible; they will wipe us out in an instant.”
Xiao Chen moved around the inner area, looking for suitable prey, before eliminating the options.
Suddenly, Xiao Chen’s eyes lit up. He discovered two high-ranked Blood Demons wandering around alone. The strength of the high-ranked Blood Demons were just slightly higher than Wu Quan’s and Ping Xingteng’s.
By using their numerical advantage and paying an appropriate price, their team would be able to deal with the Demons. Coincidentally, this would allow the team to suffer a little without paying too high a price.
Given this, they would understand their own strength and retreat on their own.
Next, Xiao Chen continued looking around with his Spiritual Sense, checking if there were other strong cultivators around.
This was to prevent a fight over the Demons. On this Battlefield, the hearts of humans were worse than any Demon.
“Good, the nearest team is five kilometers away. After they finish their battle, they should not have any interactions with our team.”
After Xiao Chen made up his mind, he stopped hesitating. He flew into the air and returned the way he came from. After seven or eight minutes, he rejoined Wu Quan and the others.
Xiao Chen explained the situation he had seen in detail to Wu Quan and the others, before waiting for them to make a decision.
Wu Quan muttered, “We should be able to deal with two high-ranked Blood Demons. The Demon Core of a high-ranked Blood Demon is at least ten times more valuable than that of a middle-ranked Blood Demon. We can give this a try.”
The other members also felt that it was feasible; they did not object to it. Ping Xingteng seemed even more excited; he hated that he could not rush over immediately.
“Let’s go over quickly, then, before others snatch them away, leaving us with nothing,” Ping Xingteng roared and quickly called for Xiao Chen to lead the way.
Under Xiao Chen’s lead, nothing unexpected happened along the way.
Everything went smoothly. After a while, they stopped behind some reefs about a kilometer away from the two high-ranked Blood Demons.
The Blood Demons looked like humans but much paler. There was not much of a difference.
The two high-ranked Blood Demons looked around the scarlet sea, searching for humans that they could deal with. Clearly, just like how humans were hunting Demons, Demons were hunting humans as well.
When the two Blood Demons’ focus fell on the reef, everyone felt a strange chill run down their back. Their arms started trembling.
“What a fellow! These high-ranked Blood Demons are much stronger than middle-ranked Blood Demons. Just their gaze sent chills down my back,” a team member whispered.
Even the normally bold Ping Xingteng remained calm and did not recklessly charge at them.
Wu Quan thought for a while before saying, “Xingteng, you and I will each lead a team of five and separate the two Blood Demons. We cannot let the Blood Demons work together. Finish the battle quickly.”
Ping Xingteng nodded and said, “We can only do that. We need to attack simultaneously.”
After the two discussed how to split the team, Wu Quan said to Xiao Chen, “Like before, just move about and protect yourself from harm. That will do.”
“Charge!”
Ping Xingteng and Wu Quan rose into the air at the same time and charged at the two Blood Demons at lightning speed.
The moment the two moved, the high-ranked Blood Demons immediately felt the killing Qi from them. They gave off their strange laughter and tacitly attacked Ping Xingteng.
Piercing red lights appeared on the Blood Demons’ hands. One Blood Demon blocked Ping Xingteng’s saber light and the other sent its attack towards Ping Xingteng’s chest.
The Blood Demons did not care about Wu Quan’s great sword at all. It seemed that the two Blood Demons had made up their minds to instantly kill Ping Xingteng even if they got injured.
“Damn it, you think this lord is a soft persimmon?!”
[TL note: I think I mentioned this before but here is a reminder: soft persimmon means easy target.]
At the crucial moment, Ping Xingteng erupted with another saber light and knocked away the high-ranked Blood Demon blocking him.
“Bang!”
The other Blood Demon was immediately injured by Wu Quan’s great sword, which left a bloody gash at the Demon’s waist.
The sword Qi pushed the Blood Demon back two steps, throwing off the attack heading for Ping Xingteng. He escaped with only five claw marks on his shoulders.
After that, the other team members roared battlecries and rushed out as per their original plan, immediately separating the two Blood Demons.
Xiao Chen stayed at the reef, not making a move. Instead, he continued to watch. The recovery ability of a high-ranked Blood Demon was on a different level from middle-ranked Blood Demons.
They could recover from a small wound, like what they just received, in a matter of minutes.
Demons had a physical advantage over humans since birth. Every Demon had their own specialties; this was something that humans lacked.
They are able to survive, but a high-ranked Blood Demon is not so easy to deal with. Xiao Chen shook his head and stopped thinking.
The situation went exactly as Xiao Chen expected. Although they successfully separated the two high-ranked Blood Demons, they still fought arduously.
The final result was already in sight; it would definitely be a bitter victory. In that case, Xiao Chen would achieve his purpose.
The high-ranked Blood Demons did not fear getting injured as they had strong recovery abilities. So a few people were caught off-guard and suffered significant injuries.
“Bang!”
A Blood Demon pierced a hole in one of the team members. That person flew back in Xiao Chen’s direction before falling into the scarlet sea and sinking in.
Xiao Chen quickly pulled this person out and pressed on a few acupoints to stop the bleeding. Then, he took out some medication to treat this person.
This person became extremely pale and his eyes opened very wide; he still had not gotten over the shock and horror of his close call.
At that moment, that person clearly felt how close he was to death. He had seen the gates of hell and returned. That kind of fear was something that could not be described with words.